In recent years, information devices have been widespread, such as tablet personal computers (PCs), notebook PCs, portable phones, and smartphones. In information devices in the past, it is often the case that with a body unit and a display unit superposed each other for closing, a display surface of the display unit is hidden inside and, when the display unit hinged on the body unit is opened, the display surface appears. On the other hand, in some information devices in recent years, with the widespread of touch panels, the display surface of the display unit appears on a front side with the body unit and the display unit superposed each other for closing, allowing inputs from the touch panel even without opening the display unit to expose a keyboard.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-125668 discusses a notebook-type personal computer (PC), in which a hinge is slidably mounted on a groove provided on each of both side surfaces of the body unit, and a lower end of the display unit is rotatably mounted on this hinge. In the notebook-type PC disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-125668, if the display unit is tilted to a body unit side when the hinge is positioned at a rear end of the body unit, the display surface is hidden inside. If the display unit is tilted to the body unit side when the hinge is positioned at a front end of the body unit, the display surface appears outside. That is, a tablet PC style in which the display surface is exposed as being laid on the body unit and a notebook PC style in which the display surface is tiltable at the rear of the body unit are selectively used.
Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-55736 discusses an electronic device in which, since the display surface of the display unit appears on a front side with the body unit and the display unit superposed each other for closing, a thin lid is further mounted on the display surface to protect the display surface. In the electronic device disclosed in the Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-55736, a fixing shaft provided at a front end of the display unit is movable along a sliding rail of the body unit, and a rotary encoder provided to the body unit and a rotating hinge provided at the center of the display unit are coupled together by a link arm. When the display unit is pulled up, the link arm is raised, and the fixing shaft moves in the sliding rail, thereby causing the display unit to be tilted as sliding in a rear direction of the body unit. By fixing the link arm at a plurality of angles by a latch mechanism of the rotary encoder, the tilt angle of the display unit can be set at a plurality of degrees.